Mark Elliott’s record-shopping stamina is put to the sternest of tests in Amsterdam – undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest and most varied crate-digging destinations… You know that feeling that kicks in about 25 minutes after Christmas lunch – the self-satisfied glow and the sense you have over-indulged just a little too much? Swiftly followed, of course, by a billowing sense of exhaustion and the … Continue reading The Record Store Guide to Amsterdam
The Northern Irish capital has seen the slow erosion of its once plentiful record shops over the past three decades. Cara Gibney visits Strange Victory Records to meet a pair of vinyl obsessives who are reversing that trend… It’s hard to keep them on track, Darren Smyth and Jeff Doherty. We are in Strange Victory Records, their recently unveiled, independent, much needed record shop, run … Continue reading Belfast’s Strange Victory Records- “like-minded people…”
David’s Music is a thriving Hertfordshire record shop that attracts repeat visits not only from record collectors but also bands. Christopher Barrett looks at what’s in store… The UK’s earliest garden city, Letchworth is home to the UK’s first roundabout, but more importantly for those interested in smaller and more rewarding circular objects, it’s also the home of one of the UK’s best-loved independent record … Continue reading Letchworth’s David’s Music- “Collective Strength…”
The intrepid Mark Elliott jets off to the southwest of France in search of 7″ picture sleeves… Wine is what Bordeaux is really all about, but as France’s sixth-biggest city, there’s a reasonable amount of crate digging to be done here, provided you get the opening hours right. Some of the shops here still formally shut for lunch. Who honestly takes a regular lunch in … Continue reading The Record Store Guide to Bordeaux
Birmingham has produced some of the UK’s foremost reggae bands – Steel Pulse, UB40 and The Beat among them – and they (and pretty much everyone else interested in Jamaican music) shopped at Don Christie Records over the three decades-plus it was open. Don Christie opened as a specialist Blue Beat shop in the mid-1960s. With the UK label… Continue reading Birmingham’s Lost Reggae Store
After decades working in music retail and gaining experience of the wine industry, Steve Tattam combined his profession and his passion with the launch of Winyl. Christopher Barrett samples what’s in store… Located in England’s smallest town, Manningtree, on the River Stour in north Essex, the suitably diminutive Winyl has proven a big hit with locals since it was launched in October 2018 by former … Continue reading Manningtree’s Winyl – “Big on Comfort…”
Immortalised on the cover of an Oasis LP, the Golden Mile survivor defiantly stays ahead of the curve. Huw Baines finds out how… In 1989, Soho was a very different place. Holding up a busted mirror to today’s slew of Prets, faceless flats and hipster-chic bars, it was sharp at the edges and unsanitised. Nestled at 94 Berwick Street, amid a sprawl that had mainlined … Continue reading Soho’s Sister Ray – “hard-won know-how…”
Mark Elliott takes a trip to Liverpool and looks beyond the Fab Four for vinyl delights… When John Lennon was murdered in December 1980, it accelerated my obsession with music. True, I’d already been seduced by the soundtrack to Grease and had started buying the odd 7″ single, but the avalanche of Beatles books and magazines launched off the back of the tragedy offered something … Continue reading The Record Store Guide to Liverpool
The globetrotting, cratedigging Mark Elliott extends his vinyl quest to the record shops of the Swedish capital… More than one Stockholm record dealer tells me that the country’s relatively stable economy over the decades sustained a buoyant music industry, leading to the abundance of great used vinyl you can source here today. This is another of those must-go destinations for cratediggers but, like other key … Continue reading The Record Store Guide to Stockholm
It’s been a breathtaking 12 months for the sibling duo behind TNT Records in Barrow. Just a year after opening, they’re Long Live Vinyl’s Record Shop Of The Year, and they’re already talking about expanding… When brothers Dave and Dan Turner achieved the lifelong dream of opening a record shop in their home town of Barrow last Christmas, they can’t have dreamed that three days … Continue reading Barrow’s TNT Records – “Everything happened in fast-forward…”
